Have a Vision

So now that you know that your eyes don't really "see" anything, you should get really comfortable and familiar with what your eyes actually do do. Take a look at this excellent overview of human vision. Also take a look at this short clip from NOVA, it covers much of the same material, but from a different perspective.

Take a look at this excellent site that will give you an understanding of how we process what we think of as "color". Make sure you click on all 3 tabs at the top to get the full overview

If a Tree Falls......Sensations and their "Sheisty"* Subjectivity

So, we find ourselves at the end of Sensation and Perception, enlightened perhaps, about what we think of as “real", questioning what we believe we “see”, “hear”, or “feel”… 

I’m hoping that you choose to take advantage of some of the resources I’ve put together to both help you review, explore further and perhaps amuse yourself. Because there are so many links, I've decided to break the posts into two pieces (gestalts???), check again tomorrow for an overview of pereception.

It seemed the hardest thing to wrap our minds around was the idea that our brain has no real access to the outside world. The idea that color itself is merely a sensation and that our photoreceptors are only sensitive to a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum tripped a lot of ya'll out, but doing a little animal comparison seems to drive home the subjectivity of all sensations. 

If you recall the auditory threshold demos we did in class, the fact that I am too "old" to hear certain frequencies that are obvious to you, should also help cement the idea that sensations are not absolute, objective or stable.

If you're interested in exploring diverse topics concerning smell and taste I highly recommend that you check out these really awesome olfaction and gustation pages.

Last but not least, the experience of pain. If you have any confusion about the Gate-Control Theory, this short paper does an excellent job of clearly explaining the idea in a way that you can apply personally to pain management. You may also want to check out this interview with psychologist Tom Rutledge (UCSD Psychiatry) in which he discusses the way physicians apply Gate-Control in patient treatment.

*Please see Ayanna Jones for an accurate definition of "sheisty"